The drainage basin is heavily urbanised but many of the Hayes to Whitton flood-meadows have been conserved, forming a narrow, green vale, opening out to what remains of Hounslow Heath in the centre – a near-continuous belt of semi-natural habitat.

The Crane's form has been greatly altered by river engineering works: over centuries the watercourse has been subject to widening, narrowing, straightening, dredging and bank reinforcement.

Its lake is still refreshed via sluice and culvert from the Lower DNR's Mill Plat, and thus is supplied by virtue of the Crane from the Colne and the Yeading Brook.

The latter means the river system has sources in the London Boroughs of Harrow and Ealing [in Southall as an overflow offtake from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal].

[1] Its name is interwoven with Cranford and may be from crane (bird)s. The inset map shows in highlighted blue the quite steady slope used for General Roy's baseline, used for the Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790), starting the first exact co-ordinating of two premier European observatories.

[9][10][11] A two-metre inter-pipe valve jammed shut on Saturday morning at Cranford Bridge on the A4 Bath Road while Thames Water engineers carried out routine maintenance.

The agency was called into action following several reports from members of the public that a section of the river at Twickenham had turned black and fish were seen in distress.

The source of the pollution has been traced to an outfall pipe upstream of the A30, and EA officers are at the scene working with partners to minimise the impact of the incident.Three days later, a temporary coffer dam of sandbags spanned the river, just north of the Piccadilly Line bridge.

It strategises and co-ordinates efforts to manage and improve the Crane and its tributaries, including enhancing biodiversity, water quality and quantity, connectivity, public access, community cohesion, and historical and educational opportunities.

Members present were: These agreed an aspiration for action along the Crane to improve water quality and biodiversity, as well as promoting the significance of the river corridor as part of the West London Green Chain.